With world leaders currently busy trying to keep global warming below 1.5°C at the COP26, it seems like perfect moment to announce a GreenTech fund. Launched by Simmons & Simmons, the British law firm which also has an office in Luxembourg, the fund will award £100,000 of legal advice to up to four businesses focussing on mitigating climate change and tackling biodiversity issues.
Keeping the planet cool should not just be a political goal but also a business goal. This at least appears to be the stance of the British law firm Simmons & Simmons when stating that “we all have a social imperative to tackle the biodiversity and climate crisis”.
Backing up this statement is their recently launched GreenTech fund. As the name implies, this fund targets businesses seeking to use technology to tackle global warming and the looming biodiversity crisis.
“In common with many organisations, Simmons & Simmons is looking for ways to maximise its positive impact and the GreenTech fund is an attempt to achieve that by sharing our skills with businesses that are actively seeking solutions to the crisis in which we find ourselves,” says co-lead of the firm’s environmental sustainability network, Ali Crosthwaite.
Sustainability First
Launched on 1 November 2021, the legal firm’s GreenTech fund is already accepting applications from businesses who fit a number of criteria. Interested businesses must make use of technology to mitigate the climate and/or biodiversity emergencies; they must have raised external capital to Series A or raised angel or seed; and it has to have been accepted onto a recognised incubator/accelerator programme or referred to the firm by an established venture capital investor.
Led by members of the firm’s environmental sustainability network (the green room), the GreenFund involves the collaboration of investors and sustainability-oriented accelerators and incubators such as Techstars, Entrepreneur First and Illuminate Financial.
“It will be an honour for us to support passionate startups that help communities and businesses to live and act sustainably. I know there are outstanding GreenTech startups doing their bit in Luxembourg and that’s why I strongly encourage them to apply,” says Delphine Mailloc-Amand, M&BD Manager at Simmons & Simmons Luxembourg and member of the GreenTech Fund steering committee.
Open until 31 December 2021, interested parties can find all the relevant details as well as the link for the application portal here. The finalists will be announced in February.
